Tim Edwards: A Champion Of RV Industry Talent

As the Director of Human Resources at Thor Motor Coach and the Chair of the RV Industry Association’s Workplace Safety Committee, Tim Edwards is committed to helping employees thrive in a safe, supportive environment. 

Tim first joined the RV industry in 2001, leaving behind his career in the retail sector. “I had just been transferred down to the Walmart in Kokomo, IN, as an assistant manager,” he recalls. “My fiancé was still living up here in Goshen, and she, as a matter of fact, was working at Keystone RV and so I moved down there about a year later, in 2000.”

Eventually, Tim began working for Keystone RV as well, where he was, initially, responsible for hands-on tasks such as conducting pre-delivery inspections, checking water pressures, hooking up ground fault interrupters, and more. He later became a group leader and started a couple of new product lines at Keystone RV. “I was a group leader for almost five years. Keystone RV’s Vice President of Human Resources at the time, Ken Julian, was looking to bring somebody into his human resources team that had operational experience, and he ended up offering me the position. So, I joined the Human Resources group at Keystone RV in 2007.”

By 2010, Tim had become Keystone RV’s Human Resources Manager, a role he remained in until 2018. Eventually, Ken, who had moved to THOR Industries in 2009, reached out to ask Tim if he’d be interested in joining THOR Industries Corporate Office as the company’s Director of Human Resources. Tim accepted the role, staying in it until 2024, when Thor Motor Coach’s Director of Human Resources position opened unexpectedly. 

“I’ve spent half of my life in this industry,” he says. “It's been very fun. I've used my own story as discussion fodder with groups to highlight that your career path is only as limited as you'll let it be. While there can be immovable walls in some situations, ultimately, if you're committed to something, then you're the one who's in charge and driving that effort.”

As Human Resources Director for Thor Motor Coach, Tim’s responsibilities focus on employee relations, benefits, safety, recruiting, hiring, and creating development opportunities, such as having everyone on the human resources team become Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certified. 

“I'm in a great situation right now,” he adds. “I have an amazing team that works with me here at Thor Motor Coach. I’m really excited about this opportunity to mentor this group of up-and-coming human resource leaders. I look forward to doing as much as I can to get them ready for their next opportunities. I had the fortune of being mentored by great leaders during in my industry upbringing and I want to pass that along.”

“My main goal is to develop my team, so we have a deep bench when it comes to succession planning. And then, through that process, I’ll impart the things that I've learned on my journey, as well as help with the organizational development of our operational groups by identifying opportunities to improve in all phases of the company.”

Going forward, Thor Motor Coach (and Tim) plan to continue nurturing the company’s talent. “We’ve had some growth over the past two quarters. It’s been good to have orientations again and start seeing new faces come through the building. We want to continue that steady growth and make sure we're serving the plants. We want to get Thor Motor Coach the people that they need while at the same time developing the folks that are running the show and helping make them even better leaders.”

Thor Motor Coach is working towards this goal by preparing current employees for future advancement opportunities. “We’re working on an internal management development program. We want to create a program that allows employees to see a definitive path of growth.” Tim explains. “We can teach people the nuts-and-bolts part of the role if they already have the right mindset, the right work ethic, and the right attitude. I'm really excited about the program— it’s really fulfilling to keep my team developed.”

In addition to his responsibilities as the Human Resources Director for Thor Motor Coach, Tim Edwards is also involved with the RV Industry Association as Chair of the Workplace Safety Committee. 

Tim became involved with the Workplace Safety Committee (known at the time as the Workplace Safety Task Force) when he was still employed at Keystone RV. However, he was also involved in industry safety discussions even before the Association’s Task Force was established. 

Tim recalls that, initially, he and other representatives from various RV industry companies would participate in roundtable discussions on workplace safety: “My predecessor at THOR Industries would meet with the Safety lead at Jayco, and they invited a few industry folks to speak safety issues, and together would do a roundtable. There were representatives from companies like Patrick Industries, Forest River, Lippert Components, and THOR Industries. I sat in as a representative from Keystone RV. It was an informal but effective setup.”

Recognizing the importance of industry safety, the RV Industry Association also became involved in the effort. “We all want to elevate safety for the industry and keep all employees as healthy and safe as possible,” Tim says. “And so, I became a part of the RV Industry Association’s Workplace Safety Task Force and sat in on the very first meeting. That was my first interaction with the RV Industry Association.”

The first major challenge that the new Task Force faced was the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everything shut down for a month,” he recalls. “When we reconvened the Task Force, it was shortly after the industry had started to try and find a way for workers to safely transition back to work. I began wondering during that meeting how, from a safety perspective, we could find a way to move the needle for the industry. 

“We started to have deeper conversations about the Task Force’s mission,” Tim continues. “I posed that I don't think safety ever stops, and so, in the interest of that idea, we started talking about evolving the Task Force into a Committee, since task forces are only designed to solve a problem and then disassemble.”

Around this time, Tim began taking on a leadership role within the evolving Task Force. “The Chair of the Workplace Safety Task Force at that time stepped down, and Monika Geraci (the Association’s Senior Director of Public Relations and Communications), and Bryan Ritchie (the Association’s Vice President of Standards), reached out to ask if I would be interested in chairing the Task Force. By that time, I was in my role at THOR Industries, and I accepted the Task Force role as well.” 

This led Tim and the Taskforce to present a motion to the RV Industry Association’s Board of Directors to turn the Task Force into a Committee. His presentation took place just before the 2024 Leadership Conference. 

“I did get to sit in on the Board meeting until they went into executive session,” Tim recalls. “It was really interesting to see how the RV Industry Association’s Board operates and how the discussions are crafted. Essentially, we got to the end of the Board meeting, and I presented the Board with the motion  to elevate the Workplace Task Force to a Workplace Safety Committee, which passed unanimously.”

Since then, Tim notes that he feels supported by the other Committee members, including Monika, Bryan, and Craig Kirby, the President and CEO of the RV Industry Association. “They helped develop some of our Workplace Safety Committee goals and create content for the educational sessions that we've held,” he says. “Monika’s been a great Committee liaison, and an invaluable resource. It’s made my job really easy, and extremely enjoyable. It’s also been great to work with Craig Kirby, and to see all the work that he does.”

In March 2025, Tim spoke during the RV Industry Association’s Leadership Conference Park Perspective session, focusing on how the RV industry can continue implementing safety measures to take care of its talent.

“I'm a firm believer that the bottom level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs has to be established at work— safety being one of them— before we can have discussions about turnover rates,” he explains. “Safety is a great foundational place to start when considering how we can keep our talent. And, of course, there are other strategies that you then build off of that.”

Along with his involvement on the Workplace Safety Committee and participation at the last two Leadership Conferences, Tim also attended RVs Move America Week 2024. “I thought that was an amazing opportunity,” he says.

When looking back over the last twenty years, Tim expresses amazement at his trajectory within the industry. “It's quite the journey when I reflect back on the fact that the guy who walked into Keystone RV in 2001 with little to no RV experience would someday be sitting in front of the RV Industry Association’s Board of Directors, petitioning them to elevate a Task Force to a Committee of which I would be Chair and later speaking at an Association leadership event. It’s all been a wild ride, and one that I don't believe I have ever taken for granted. I’m super excited to continue my role with the RV Industry Association and see where it takes us.”